US judge temporarily halts President Trump’s plans of mass layoff, government overhaul | World News
A US federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s adminration plans for a mass layoffs and program closures in its sweeping government overhaul as the Congress had not authorized the federal government to carry out the efforts to downsize the staff and restructure agencies.
US Drict Judge Susan Illston sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments on Friday in San Francisco, when he blocked Trump adminration’s attempts of a large-scale mass layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days.
Judge Susan Illston of the Federal Drict Court for the Northern Drict of California, who ruled just hours after an emergency hearing on Friday, stated in his judgement “As hory demonstrates, the President may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized Congress.”
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White House is yet to respond over the recent judicial setback but the government’s efforts to lay off workers and shut down offices and programs suffered a major blow with the federal judge’s temporary halt.
The ruling is also being seen as the broadest of its kind since the government overhaul program was led billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Dozens of lawsuits have challenged the working of DOGE on various grounds, including violating privacy laws and exceeding its authority, with mixed results. Trump had directed DOGE in February to work with government agencies and identify targets for a mass firing, in order to restructure the adminration.
The US Congress has a specific process for the federal government to reorganize itself, and the group of unions, ono-profits who have filed the lawsuit stated that the Trump adminration doesn’t have authority to arbitrarily take those decisions without the consent from the legislative branch.Story continues below this ad
A statement the plaintiffs said, “The Trump adminration’s unlawful attempt to reorganize the federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation,” Reuters reported.
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